Toolbox

Metrics for Urban Space Experimentation

The experimentation evaluation toolkit helps to collect data with 20 different metrics from experiments in urban environments.

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Co-creation

Futures mapping

Foresight methods provide an approach for envisioning the future, that serves the urban lab context. We call it futures mapping. Participatory foresight relies on design-based methods for observing changes in the operational environment through trends and signals, ideation and scenario making, vision and roadmaps. A participatory approach serves to engage the stakeholders, who put their imagination and expertise in to use in picturing possible futures for tomorrow’s cities.

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Citizen engagement

Citizen Innovator Pool

A citizen innovator pool is a community-based model to engage residents in working together with the public and private sector to co-create, develop and test urban solutions. It allows the citizens interested in the urban lab topics and activities to be informed, interact and participate in service design processes or other innovation activities of their choice.

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Co-creation

Agile Piloting

Agile pilots are short and low cost experiments aiming to produce scalable solutions for city challenges. The city environment offers a laboratory for experimenting and co-creating novel solutions and innovative services. Running pilots in a facilitated programme format brings synergies and is also a resource efficient way for a living lab to engage with startups.

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Citizen engagement

Social Impact Evaluation

Social impact evaluations are participatory evaluation processes happening parallel to urban innovation projects. They assess the social impact of a project and allow the citizens to reflect on what can be improved in future projects. The most useful results are achieved by including diverse points of view from different stakeholder groups.

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Co-creation

Design sprints

Design or co-creation sprints are fast paced creative processes. They bring various experts together to ideate on a selected topic or theme. The goal of the sprints is to innovate and find solutions through facilitated co-design activities. Design sprints can be fit to different needs and contexts, and within district innovation labs they have proven to be a useful tool to support multi-sectoral co-creation in urban development projects.

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Data and Digital platforms

Urban Digital Twin

Urban digital twin is a compilation of 3D models including buildings, road infrastructure, street furniture and greenery that creates a comprehensive visual and simulative virtual model of the existing cityscape. The urban digital twin supports living lab activities in several ways: ideas can be tested, experimented with and demonstrated early with the digital twin. Data can also be collected with the twin and exported for various purposes, such as to support the development of new services. Capability for a quick and easily controllable 3D environment creates easily understandable tools for communicating plans, designs and ideas in the urban context.

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Co-creation

Innovation Community

Network activities and co-creation represent key elements within a district urban lab. On a local level this is all about creation of an innovation community. The key members in an innovation community on a district-level include different city departments, major developers in the district, and local companies, as well as academia and innovation sector partners – and of course the local residents. Network collaboration and creation of innovation ecosystems focusing on different topics are facilitated by recurring gatherings, inviting them to develop smart solutions, new partnerships, collaboration projects and experimentation.

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Built and natural environment

Districts as Innovation Platforms

An innovation platform refers to an operating environment in which development has been systematically opened up to external developers, for whom participation in the process also generates value and networking opportunities. In Smart Kalasatama, district innovation lab, the aim of the platform is to drive innovation, develop smart city solutions and test them in a real life environment: a growing city district. Many different physical buildings and infrastructure function as innovation platforms and serve the solution providers and developers.

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Built and natural environment

Urban Lab Spaces

Urban lab spaces are physical spaces for facilitating innovation and collaboration. They bring residents, companies, researchers and cities together to co-create urban futures and function as catalysts for innovator networks. Urban lab spaces can also serve as testbeds and showrooms for technological innovations in real life settings.

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